March 2015

September 27, 2014

This month we celebrated the return to schedules, and homework, and school. We said farewell to summer and hello to autumn. Before we get lost in all things October and Halloween, let's take one last look at our September gallery:

Let's start with finding some journaling ideas!

I Remember | Lisa Borbély

:: write about your childhood school or your memories of school ::

Walking Tall | Amy Sorensen

:: write about a past teacher that your child loved ::

Hello Senior Year | Diane Payne

:: make a list of classes that your student is taking ::

Visit the Old Teacher at Meet the Teacher | Marnie Flores

:: write about the unexpected in the usual. such as seeing old teachers as you meet new ones::

Now let's move onto some photography ideas!

Grade School Years | Sue Althouse

:: pull out those old school photos and use them on a layout ::

First Day Back To School | Jennifer Hignite

:: if you missed photos like these on the first day of school, it's not too late to stage some ::

School Days | Lisa Borbély

:: school beginnings aren't the only photos worthy of comparing ::

Year 1 | Cristina C. Scrap

:: celebrate your success and growth by capturing yourself often ::

Currently Loving | Amy Kingsford

:: don't forget to look down to describe your children. footwear tells a lovely story ::

And lastly, some ideas for making well designed pages.

Goodbye Summer | Aliza Deutsch

:: design in 3s. Aliza used three hearts. small yet significant ::

Kindergarten | Jennifer Larson

:: Jenny's write up discussed how she (finally) put these pages together to celebrate her OLW, do. Try it yourself. See what doing can do ::

First Day | Valerie O'Neall

:: grids don't need equal treatment in every quadrant ::

4th | Celeste Smith

:: themed pages do not need themed papers ::

First Day of 5th Grade | Jennifer Hignite

:: look for clever ways to further your story. Like the stamp under the five for fifth grade ::

We hope you have enjoyed the month, both the gallery and the posts! Only four more days until our new gallery!!

September 20, 2014

Have you been to a football game yet this season? Have you picked apples yet? Put up any decor for autumn or Halloween? I am marveling in the beauty of all things seasonal. We have had a series of blue sky days and lovely crisp air. My scheduled life is falling into routine and I am grateful to find time to scrapbook. Love that.

This week's sketch is from Jennifer's gallery layout, First Day Back to School. I was intrigued by how she fit on five photos while still maintaining a chunk of white space. Which we all know I love so much.

Here is the accompanying sketch.

Sue made a terrific layout which removed one of the bottom photos, nipped in one of the patterned paper strips, and added some journaling above the title. She is always so good with her mixed patterns. I like how she balanced them this time with a cardstock section for her white space area. It really balances the patterns.

And did you notice the crocodile (alligator?) in that photo? I might be picking a new golf course, t'were it me...

Next up is Amy. With a page that makes me want to drink some cider with all its warm tones. Do you like all the adjustments she made to the sketch? Her photos are slid over to the paper's edges, and their mattes have been removed. The bottom row is leveled and made into rectangles. She found room for her journaling at the top of her focal photo, while her title treatment takes left stage by storm. It has a totally different feel with its newly discovered asymmetry.

Lisa also created a lovely layout, soothing in its whites and blues. Her focal photo became two, her lower photos (just three) were lined up with even margins. And one of her strips became her place of journaling. With her rectangular page shape, she lost her title space, but found the perfect place for it at the top. Oh how I want to visit her one day and see her island and all its rocky beach glory.

In my looking-for-a-good-grade way, I stuck true to the sketch, mostly. My created the layout with tipped photos and then decided I wanted to the string them up, so straight across they became. I had to scooch my focal photo over a bit to the right to fit my title on, and then I moved my title up a smidgen so that I could fit the journaling underneath. I'm sorry for the repeat performance of this paper. I really do love it.

Thank you for stopping by today! I hope you enjoy the sketch and that it helps inspire you to create your own layout!

September 13, 2014

This has been an amazing week. I have loved everything that our team has done. I have learned so very much. Sometimes I think it is time to go back to paper scrapping so that I can try out some of these cool things!

September 06, 2014

Welcome! Where did the week go? I always think that having the kids back in school will slow things down, but somehow this year is racing by faster than ever. It might have something to do with having to be up at 5:15am two mornings a week! Yikes! Not good for this sleepy lady.

I am happy to note that I have snuck in some guilt free scrapbooking time this week. I love that part. How about you? One morning I left the beds unmade and the breakfast on the table until after I finished a layout. Woohoo! Such a scrapping rebel!

In keeping up the mojo juices, this week's sketch is certainly going to please. Based upon Lisa's layout in our Back to School II gallery, it has room for several photos, or just one, or two. And lots of patterned paper.

I love how tall and thin it is, and how everything is so central. I realized that some of the height will be lost once it becomes 12x12, but the centrality will remain.

Here is how the sketch turned out.

Here is how my layout turned out. I think it still has lots of height!

September 01, 2014

September is upon us! We are looking forward to apples, changing leaves, blue skies, and schedules. And increased scrapbooking!!!! Hooray!

This month we are introducing a new feature. Each month we will add a monthly theme. It will coordinate with our monthly gallery theme and be a focus for the weekly posts throughout the month. This month our theme is Learning. Which is the perfect tie in for our monthly gallery theme:

We hope that it makes for a fun month to have a theme as well as our gallery. Let's go look at the lovely layouts, shall we? And as a reminder, if you want to read the journaling and see the layouts in a larger format, please click on over to the gallery album, Back To School II.

Kindergarten | Jennifer Larson

A Note from JenniferI finally got started on my sons’ school scrapbooks. This is the 4-page layout for my younger son’s Kindergarten years. I took inspiration for the scrapbook idea and page design from Cathy Zielske in the book Clean and Simple 2 and Stacy Julian's The Big Picture. One page for thee school photo and details (grade/teacher/school), one page for photos from the year plus journaling, one page for class picture, and one pocket page for various representative school and life papers from the year. I used the same basic layout and line of products for each grade. I have finished 2 grades completely and just have to select and print photos for the other 3 years. By the way, my son helped me pick out the products, photos, and papers for the pocket page—perhaps my favorite part of finally starting this project was getting my son to help me!

September Fun FactMy younger son is now in 5th grade, so these papers and photos have been sitting around for 5+ years. Since my One Little Word this year was DO, I used that word to motivate me to finally start the albums. So if you have wanted to do a school album but are worried it is too late to start, trust me: it can be done!

School Days | Lisa Borbély

A Note from LisaThis layout is a timeline with a photo of my daughters first day of first grade and her first day of ninth grade. I just wanted to have the two photos on the same layout as a comparison, so I just added scraps of paper and labels between them. Sometimes it is fun to make a layout without writing an important story, but just to play with paper!

September Fun FactI love summer, but feel ready to light some candles and take chilly walks.

A Note from AmyWhen I bought these tall gold alpha stickers, the lady at the scrapbook store said "I love these but I don't know how anyone will ever use them." Now I'm sort of on a mission to use them up! I'm consistently surprised at how neutral gold is...good for both girl and boy layouts.

September Fun FactI've been looking forward to Starbucks getting pumpkin back since January. It's finally time!

A Note from ValerieI love the new Jubilee line from My Mind's Eye. I knew when I spotted the blue striped paper it was perfect for my son's back to school photos. Then it's really just a basic 4 square grid layout with one of the "squares" filled with embellishments instead of a photo.

September Fun FactI love that my son is going to the same elementary school that my husband and I went to. Go Vikings!

A Note from CristinaAs I am getting ready to start the second and last year of my degree, it was fun to sit back and look at the pictures I have collected over the past year. I decided to take a picture of me for each week of class, and I love looking back and thinking about all that I have accomplished.There were a lot of colors in these pictures, so I decided to convert most of them to black and white and only keep a few favorites in color.

September Fun FactBack to school it is. I got used to the more relaxed schedule of summer, but I am looking forward to fall weather and colors.

A Note from AmyThis layout is about all of the things that my oldest son is really interested in right now. I find Back to School is a great time to record these types of things as so many of their interests pop up in the clothes and supplies that we buy before school starts.

September Fun FactI made a goal at the beginning of this year to read 14 books in 2014. I got off to a good start but my progress stalled a little over the summer. I'm hoping now that my oldest is going to a full day of school, I'll be able to find a little bit more time for reading--I guess we'll see?!

4th | Celeste Smith

A Note from CelesteThis layout was more difficult to scrap than if I scrapped it closer to the beginning of school. My son had a phenomenal year and I found it difficult not to start gushing about that! I used very little school themed elements and papers here. I challenged myself to make it look school themed without theapples and pencils.

September Fun FactIt’s my 18th wedding anniversary this month. For twenty, my husband has agreed to an Italian getaway. I cannot wait!

Hello Senior Year | Diane Payne

A Note from DianeThis layout is the last first day of high school layout for my kids…how time has flown by.

September Fun FactI have a goal to do some major closet cleaning and purging this month… wish me luck!

First Day of 5th Grade | Jennifer Hignite

12 x 12 | materials Scholastic Full Collection by Mommyish

A Note from JenniferThis layout was fun to play with and pull together. I enlarged the clock brush to make it the background of the layout. I added another brush underneath the 5 to highlight the grade number he was starting on that first day!

September Fun FactI am so ready for all the things that come along with back to school time! Routine, schedules, homework, soccer games, cooler temperatures & lots of fun!!

August 27, 2014

Hey everyone, Diane here doing a little update on my Summer Bucket List that was the featured topic of a post and layout I did in June. Although I didn't actually expect to do everything on my list I was hoping to do about half of them. Needless to say, I've only done 3 of the 9, but summer isn't over yet! The kids are back in school but I'm giving myself a through the end of September to keep crossing things off the list!

Here was my list:

Spend a day exploring in Dallas

Make homemade ice cream

Go on a picnic

Eat a snow cone

Go wine tasting

Take photos at a photo booth

Visit the Dallas Farmer's Market

Look for treasures at a flea market

Go to a drive-in with the family

The three things I did do were done in extraordinary ways so I'm happy about that!

August 06, 2014

For me summer is a time when I can be outside more, tending to my garden, down by the lake and feel sunshine on my face. I can list a hundred things that makes me happy right now, and that is just what I wanted to show you today. Make a layout using a list of things that makes you happy!

This is an older page where I have used a large photo and added my list right on the photo. When making a list type layout you can opt to use a neutral photo that might not have anything to do with your list, or perhaps add smaller photos from your list.

For me these kinds of layouts are much more about the journaling so for this one above I chose a smaller sized photo that is one that makes me smile.

In this last layout, I used my photo as a place to write my title and the list is just a continuing list on the journaling card.

A Note from AlizaThis layout, on the one hand, is a simple page about a summer outing. But it means a lot more to me, because we just got a car (for the first time), and I am just so excited by the freedom of going to new places. Particularly, to the great, big, outdoors. It really does fill my soul. I included a little detail about some of the less than perfect parts of this trip - it just seemed dishonest to leave it out. Plus, life is messy. I want that recorded for posterity.

A Note from JennyRight now our favorite restaurant is The Freehouse in the Warehouse district in Minneapolis. They locally source their food, serve breakfast all day, and do interesting twists on old favorite foods. This page commemorates this truly awesome restaurant.

August Fun FactMy favorite food here are the jack’d up mussels or the pork belly bennies (Eggs Benedict).

A Note from DianeMy husband and I celebrated our 25 year anniversary in July so I snapped a selfie of the two of us on our anniversary and used it on this month's layout along with some thoughts about the last 25 years, which has been the absolute BEST!

A Note from ValerieI decided it had been too long since I've made a layout with a circle shaped photo. Circle shaped photos are "the best" for breaking out of a scrapbooking rut. I decided on this photo of "the best" hat and picked out some coordinating My Mind's Eye decorative tape. The layout came together really fast once I decided on the tape and had a plan.

August Fun FactMy husband's birthday was last month, and instead of sitting back and relaxing he chose to spend his day baling hay. He had not baled hay since he was a kid and couldn't wait to get out there in the hot sun and throw heavy bales of hay onto the rack. Really?! I was hoping for a dinner out for my man's birthday with no cooking and dirty dishes to clean.

A Note from CelesteI was reading a thread in the forum at the Lilypad and the ladies were listing some of their favorite unsung hero kits. So I decided to download a bunch of them and try to incorporate them in a page. This page is the result of challenging myself. A fun way to build a page is just grab a pile of product and see how much of it you can incorporate!

August Fun FactMy birthday is this month and I might just have a little treat for you around that time, stay tuned!

A Note from CareyThe photos in this layout are some of the best examples of the silliness of my boy's personality. He's always coming up with crazy ideas and experiments, like testing out his rainsuit in the shower! I wanted to emphasize the water from the shower by using rain-themed elements and papers.

August Fun FactWe took our family vacation to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness along the Minnesota-Canada border. I paddled over 35 miles across the lakes in a canoe (no motors allowed). My arms got quite the workout!

Summer Vacation | Jennifer Hignite

A Note from JenniferThis layout documents some of the BEST moments from our summer vacation 2013. I love layouts that recap a time period by bringing together multiple moments & memories!

August Fun FactAugust is one of my favorite months of the year. Filling the final month of summer vacation with day trips and fun activities all the while secretly counting down the days until school starts ;)

A Note from KateI chose this layout because it was one of the best moments in a very hard year for our family. And looking at the date reminds me that we were only half-way done! But we grabbed happiness where we could and we landed on our feet.

August Fun FactI love having the kids home for the summer and I'm one that will be sad when they have to go back to school.

July 26, 2014

We really hoped you enjoyed our monthly gallery, The Great Outdoors. Did you have a favorite layout? Anything catch your eye? Before we move to our August gallery, let's take one last look at our July gallery.

We (heart) Outside! | Marnie Flores

As you look to gather photos for a layout, remember they don't all have to come from the same day. You can gather them around a theme, or a season, or any other common thread. CLICK through your folders and pick to your heart's content.

Home Sweet Home | Lisa Borbély

Grab your camera. Stand on your porch. Think of one thing that you LOVE in your community. Now run and take a picture of it. Hurry! Just one CLICK, though. Teasing. Take as many as you would like. Then come home, print, and scrapbook it.

The next time you need trees on a SCRAPBOOK page, follow Valerie's lead and stitch a trunk and branches onto a brown triangle. Whodathunkit? It completely looks like a printed-on-the-paper element. Amazing.

July 02, 2014

The scrapbooking world has been overwhelmed (in a good way, I think!) with the Project Life idea from Becky Higgins over the past 2 years. Many of the other scrapbooking companies have also been influenced by the simple cards. Today I wanted to show you how I use cards that are meant to be in pocket scrapbooking on regular layouts.

Here, I have created a super simple design with 2 photos and 2 cards. The cards make it simple to throw a page together, especially because they act as both a journaling card and decoration. Almost as easy as putting them in pockets!

In this layout I used one of the photo cards I have made myself (click here to see the original post and free download!) and added it in with a journaling card. The page is like the title says: a note to myself to not take everything so seriously. The card helps with that message.

Finally, this page was put together in 10 minutes, I kid you not! The patterned paper was trimmed, the cards and photo too, adhered, journaling written - bam! Coordinated kits are just so helpful. The colors in those two cards might have been a bit tricky otherwise, but since they came in a kit they are a perfect match!

Thank you Becky for your idea and infuence to make memorykeeping easier!